Seven films will be screened in the anti-colonisation package at the 28th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) that will begin on December 8.
The screening comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions in West Asia.
Omar, a film by Palestinian-Dutch director Hany Abu-Assad; Palestinian movie Degrade by Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser; Crescendo by Israeli director Dror Zahavi; Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory; Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line; and Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator will be the movies that will be screened as part of the package.
Shyam Benegal’s latest film Mujib: The Making of a Nation will be the first movie to be screened in this category, which also looks at how filmmakers look at colonisation, conflict, and peace. This package is also in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Mujib is a biographical film on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the war for Bangladesh liberation and the country’s founding father and first president.
On Palestinian youth
Omar tells the story of a Palestinian youth who frequently scales the West Bank wall built by Israel to meet his lover Nadia. One day, he is captured by Israeli soldiers. The movie received much attention at Cannes and Toronto international film festivals.
Degrade narrates the story of two hairdressers who are stranded in a salon in conflict-riven Gaza and their 10 customers.
Crescendo’presents the point of view of a world-renowned musician who tries to organise a music programme involving young Israeli and Palestinian musicians for the cause of peace.
Paths of Glory is an anti-war movie set against the backdrop of the First World War. The Thin Red Line that is set against the backdrop of the Second World War had won the Golden Lion at the Berlin film festival.
Charlie Chaplin’s anti-war movie The Great Dictator is renowned for the filmmaker’s monologue at the end of the film that calls for a world without national boundaries.
